Chance Encounters
by ithinkijustateahorcrux
Summary: Oneshots where Mortals Meet your favorite PJO/HOO characters. Open to Requests.
1. Chapter One: Sam Gordon

My name is Samantha Gordon. I'm 18 years old, and a senior at Goode High. I have a light brown pixie cut and brown eyes, and that is all you need to know about me. One more thing, I am NOT in love with Percy Jackson. He's just a friend. Seriously. Don't give me any _Are you sure?_ or _You're just in denial, sweetie._ I am absolutely sure I am not in love with Percy Jackson. I just wanted to let you know I'm not like the other brainless bimbos that are madly in love with him. We're just friends.

Now, you might be wondering, _Who's this guy she's talking about?_ Percy Jackson is probably the most attractive boy at Goode. No joke. He has permanently unruly black hair, mesmerizing sea green eyes, and a body that male models would _kill_ for. But, his appearance is not the only reason girls like him (even though it helps). He's the kindest, funniest and most loyal guy you'll ever meet. Now, ladies don't get any ideas. He has a girlfriend from San Francisco. Don't get into the whole, _She might be fake,_ or _She doesn't deserve him!_ thing, like Jessica Aniston (not related to Jennifer Aniston, I think) does. Who is this Jessica? Only the sluttiest, bitchiest, most vain girl you'll ever meet. Think Regina George was bad? Jessica is 10 times worse. With her pin-straight platinum blonde hair , blue eyes , and over-powdered face, she's your stereotypical mean girl. Rich, hot, snobby cheerleader. And the worst thing is, the teachers think she's an angel! Like, can you not see past that totally fake, 100-watt smile? Whatever.

Anyways, I was just walking through the halls, minding my own business when Miss Oh-I'm-so-much-better-than-you and her two lackeys, Whitney Bertman and Lindsay Van Der Meister just tripped me!

"Oops! Didn't see you there, loser." Jessica said in her sickly sweet voice.

"Right. You just happened to _not_ see me walking to my next class? God, Jess I think you might need to *gasp* get _glasses_." I said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

Jessica scoffed, "Yeah, right! Maybe you're just a nobody. Ever think of that?"

"Well, if I'm nobody, you wouldn't have run into me." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You little-" Jessica began, but Percy interrupted with, "What's up, Sam?"

"Nothing. I was just telling off Miss I'm-such-a-bitch here." I said, with a knowing smile. Jessica turned red with anger and humiliation, and then she remembered _Percy Jackson_ was there.

"Hi, Percy." she said in a nasally voice.

"Hi, Jenna, right?" he said innocently.

"Jessica. Jessica Aniston." She said, slightly insulted.

"Oh, cool. Anyway, Sam, I have great news!" he said, practically bursting with excitement.

"What?"

"There's burritos for lunch." he said, and we both cracked up. See, when we first met, I threw a burrito at him, and he had told me that once, on a trip to Hoover Dam, he got into a burrito fight, and I was all like, 'No way!' and immediately said we should try it whenever we had burritos for lunch. It was our inside joke.

"Um, what?" Jessica said

"Nothing. Inside joke. Anyway, I would love to keep talking to you, but I don't want your perfume sticking on me, so I'd better go." I said, walking away.

I headed over to Ms. Dumphrey's class. A word on Ms. Dumphrey. She's been divorced twice and was super bitter about it. Also, she was the strictest teacher ever. I swear she's like those 19th century teachers who beat kids with sticks! Not that Ms. Dumphrey does that, but I can tell she would like to.

Anyways, after suffering through the rest of school (sadly, we did NOT have our burrito fight) , I met up with Percy and our other friends, Matthew, James and Lily (they're dating) and Emma after school. A word about Emma. She's in love with Percy Jackson, like the other 99.9% of the females at Goode. But, since Percy is so oblivious, he doesn't notice she's madly in love with him. She absolutely refuses to believe that his girlfriend from California might be real.

I love her to death, but sometimes, Emma can be delusional. She has a misguided hope that the girlfriend Percy mentions 24/7 _might_ not be real. I mean, come on! The guy is obviously madly in love! Anyways, we were just hanging out near the back of the school building when Matthew said, "You guys wanna come over tonight? My mom isn't home, so we can do whatever."

"Dude, that'd be awesome, but some friends are picking me up today." Percy said.

"I'll be there!" James said.

"Definitely." Lily agreed.

"What about you, Em?" Matthew asked.

"Uh-" Emma began, but a van with the words _Delphi Strawberry Service_ pulled up in front of us.

"Delphi Strawberry Service? I thought the lunch ladies didn't use real strawberries!" I said, confused.

"Nah, those are just some friends from Camp." Percy said, with a stupid grin on his face.

Just then, some teenagers came out of the van and I was like, _Whoa!_ It was the weirdest group of people I had ever seen, and they were all HOT!

The first girl to climb out looked about fifteen, with caramel hair and brown almond-shaped eyes. She wasn't wearing any makeup and was in a plain white t-shirt and jeans, but she was super pretty. She had one of those timeless faces that never age.

The next person was a scrawny Latino dude who looked kinda like one of Santa's elves. He was even kinda short! He looked fifteen or sixteen, and he was cute in, like a scrawny way. From their body language, the almond-eyed girl and him were dating. I can usually tell these things.

Next, there was a boy with really dark hair and pale skin, and he looked kinda emo.

After him, a girl with choppy brown hair came out and she looked like a supermodel. She had bronze skin which glowed and a dazzling smile. Her eyes were so cool; they seemed to change colors in the light.

Then, a guy who looked like Blond Superman walked out. No joke. He had close-cropped blond hair and really blue eyes. They were like the _sky_ blue.

From the driver's side, a girl with a black pixie cut (like me!) came out. She had sky blue eyes (like the blond dude's) and freckles all over her nose and a killer nose ring. **(I'm letting Thalia have a nose ring)** She looked pretty cool, even if she was goth.

From the passenger's seat, a girl with dark hair and eyes like obsidian came out. The first thing that struck me about her was her expression. She had a really proud face, but she had a small smile on her face.

The last person to come out was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. Seriously. Her blonde hair shone in the sunlight and she looked like your stereotypical Cali beach girl, tanned skin and everything, except she had these scary, but pretty gray eyes, which analyzed everything. She wore absolutely zero makeup, which was just astounding, because how is someone THAT pretty without makeup? I mean, not even Candice Swanepoel looks that great without makeup, and she's a model!

I could literally hear Emma's jaw dropping as she saw the last girl. Percy yelled, "WISEGIRL! What are you doing here?!"

He ran over to her and kissed her. 'Wisegirl' answered, "I was visiting my mom for work, and I wanted to surprise you, Seaweed Brain." Aww. How cute, they have nicknames for each other! I heard Emma gasp right next to me.

"Okay! Enough PDA! Annabeth, Chi - Mr. Brunner IM'ed me that there was something happening at camp." the punk girl said.

"Camp? What about camp?" Percy said, worried.

"I dunno, something about Rachel." _Rachel? As in Rachel Dare? What could she have to do with this camp?_

"Anyways, guys I would like you to meet Matthew, James and Lily, Emma and Sam." Percy said, pointing to us in turn.

"Hi!" the entire group said.

"Perce! We're gonna head out, so see ya tomorrow!" Matthew said, as he, James and Lily left.

"Okay! See ya!" Percy said waving.

"So, I'm Thalia, this is Calypso, Leo-" the punk girl began.

"The Super Sized McShizzle, actually" Leo interrupted.

"Whatever! Piper, Jason, Nico, Reyna and Annabeth." Thalia finished.

"Cool. Nice to meet you. So how do you all know each other?" I asked.

"Camp." was the universal answer.

"What kind of camp? Do you think we could come?" Emma said, shakily.

"Uh, it's a camp for ADHD and dyslexic kids." Percy explained.

"So, I can come right?" I joked. I have ADHD and dyslexia and trust me, it is not fun. Do you know how frustrating it is when you're trying to read, but you can't?

"I dunno, maybe." Percy said, thinking.

"Is she a d-" Piper began, but Annabeth cut in with,"SO, Sam! How did you manage to befriend this Seaweed Brain?"

"Uh, It's a long story, but I kinda threw a burrito at him." I said.

"Why do you call Percy Seaweed Brain?" Emma asked.

"Well, it's not because he's so bright, is it?" Annabeth laughed.

"Annabeth! I'm hurt!" Percy said, pretending to be hurt. Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him. They were so CUTE!

"I can't believe you just said that! Percy isn't dumb, and you don't deserve him!" Emma yelled, and then she ran away crying.

"What's _her_ problem?" Annabeth said, confused.

"You are. You see, Em's has a HUGE crush on Percy, and so, yeah." I said with a shrug.

"Oh, um…" Percy said.

"Yep. Don't worry. She'll get over it." I said. "I'd better go help her. See ya later!"

"Wait, what about your dad?" Percy asked

"He can deal with it. He doesn't care anyways." I said. It was true. My father never cared for me. I suppose I reminded him too much of my mother.

"He won't care if you don't come home?" Annabeth asked, concerned.

"Nah. I could be missing for a month and he wouldn't notice." I said, kinda sad, but knowing it was true.

"What about your mom?"

"Never knew her. She ran away after I was born." I said.

Annabeth, Piper, and Reyna shared a look.

"So, you have ADHD and Dyslexia, a missing parent… Has anything _weird_ happened to you?" Piper asked, "Like, you're not even sure you saw it/it happened weird?"

"Uh, I thought I saw a pegasus once when I was seven…" I said, kinda confused. What did my life story have to do with it? What did these people want?

"You'd better come with us." Piper said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Somewhere safe." Reyna said seriously.

"Could you not finish each other's sentences? It's kinda creepy…" I said, backing away. "And, where exactly is this 'safe place'?" I asked.

"They have burritos." Percy said from nowhere. I was totally sold.


	2. Chapter Two: Sam Gordon Part II

So, we piled into the van, which was surprisingly comfortable. I was kinda freaked out. I'm not a coward, but when someone tells you to go with them somewhere in the back of a van, I get nervous. How many horror movies have this kind of situation? Maybe, they're all crazy kidnappers and they're taking me to a storage locker, where they'll barely feed me and I'll waste away and be found 30 years later in a ditch! Sorry, my mind went somewhere else. I mean they're all teenagers, so they can't be that bad, right?

Anyway, I looked around the van. Jason and Piper were snuggling, Leo was fiddling with something, Calypso was braiding her hair, Nico was sulking in the corner and Annabeth was just staring into space with Percy right next to her.

"So, where are you taking me?" I asked, apprehensive.

Annabeth looked over at me and said, "A safe place. What do you know about your mom?"

"Not much. I told you all I know." I said, wondering what Annabeth was getting at.

"Sam, I'm about to tell you something that will change everything. You see your mom isn't who you think she was." Annabeth began.

"What do you mean? You know her?" I asked, suspicious. What could Annabeth know about my life? Was she a crazy stalker or something?

"Maybe. Anyway, you've heard of Greek myths, right?"

"Sort of. The stories with the crazy gods that ran around killing people and having kids." I said. I remember doing something like that in History. We were studying the Greeks and their crazy culture. I mean, seriously? Everything was all about these _really_ horny gods falling in love and having like, a bajillion kids.

"Yeah, uh, maybe you should avoid saying stuff like that. Someone might hear you." Annabeth warned.

"What do you mean? It's not like they're real!" I scoffed.

Annabeth and Percy shared a look before Annabeth said, "But, that's the thing. They ARE real."

After that I just laughed until tears came from my eyes. "Okay, great joke." I laughed. Weirdly, no one else was. "It is a joke, right?" I said, a little nervous. Annabeth just looked at me. "Okay, this is kinda weird. What is going on?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Sam. The gods of Olympus are real." Percy said.

"But, that's not possible! I mean, how- What does this have to do with _me_? I mean you can't mean- I'm not- that is, that isn't possible- Oh my God!-or is it gods? Are you saying that I'm related to a _god_?" I said, my mind totally blown.

"Yes." Annabeth said nonchalantly.

"No flippin' way! Oh my gods! What? How-" But then I was interrupted when the van suddenly lurched to the side. Okay, I'll admit it. I screamed like an arachnophobic seven-year-old who saw a million spiders. Sue me. In my defense, I was a little shocked after I found out that Greek myths are REAL and I was related to a god or goddess.

Anyway, when I got out, I saw the van was in a ditch on the side of the road. Everyone else was climbing out. Then, I looked over towards right and saw the biggest dog ever. It was HUGE, like bigger than a tank HUGE. It had malicious black eyes and a ridiculous amount of drool and REALLY sharp teeth. And it was looking straight. At. _ME_! "Nice doggie," I said, my voice shaking and me backing up. _Where is everyone? Could they have been-No! Don't think like that, Sam. Get it together!_ The giant dog just snarled and jumped on me. _This is it, I guess. This pretty much sucks,_ was all I was thinking as the dog jumped on me in slow-mo. Then, someone jumped in front of me and swung what looked like a sword at the giant dog. The dog exploded into golden dust.

Percy turned and looked at me and said, "Are you okay?" I was dizzy from fear and shock, and then everything went black. I woke up in a really uncomfortable bed. I sat up and looked around and realized I was in a cot in some kind of infirmary. I looked around to get any clue where I was, but I just saw Nico and this blonde dude making out. _Okay…_ Other than that, everyone else was asleep and covered with cuts and casts and bruises. I sat up and swung my feet off the cot. Thankfully, my backpack was at the foot of the bed. I dug in it and checked my phone. I had about a million texts from Emma.

 **Where r u?**

 **Can u believe that blonde? Who is she to call Percy dumb? Why does he stay w/ her?**

 **Y aren't u answering?**

 **Sam? Hello?**

 **K. Don't talk 2 me then.**

 **CALL ME PLZ. We need 2 talk.**

 **r u ignoring me?**

 **srsly?**

 **Fine. Whatevs.**

I just sighed. Unfortunately, Nico and the blonde dude heard and sprung apart, totally red. "Oh, sorry. Don't mind me. Please go back to sucking each other's faces." I said. Before anyone could say anything, Piper came through the door.

"Hey, Sam. How you feeling?" she asked

"Better. Where am I? Is there good cell reception?" I asked, because I needed to call Emma back ASAP.

"Um, it's just better if you follow me." Piper said. I was a bit confused, but I got up and started walking. When we got out of the room, I saw the strangest, but most idyllic place I'd ever seen. Ever. First, I realized we were in one of those Western-ish farm houses with the wraparound porches. Second, there was a forest with REALLY tall trees, and some girls with these gossamer dresses going in and out, and I thought I saw one or two turn into trees. There was a valley that went all the way up to some glistening water, the Atlantic maybe? There were also a lot of Greek-style buildings. Something that looked like a dining pavilion, an amphitheater, and an arena of some sort. There were also these strange buildings in an omega shape, with people going in and out of them. There was a sandpit where some teens and some other dudes with like, shag carpet pants playing volleyball. It was so beautiful , everything looked like someone had dumped a bucket of glitter on it. Even some kids, but I must have just imagined that.

"Wow." was all I could say.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." Piper said, gesturing all around her.

"What is this place? How did I get here?" I asked, my head full of questions.

"Do you remember anything before you passed out?"

"Yeah, I had this totally crazy conversation with Annabeth and she said Greek gods are real." I said.

"And?"

"That's totally crazy! I mean, they're _myths._ They aren't real." I said, laughing. Strangely Piper didn't join.

"They _are_ real. Sam, what I'm saying is, the myths aren't myths. The Greek gods still exist and _we,_ " she said, gesturing to everything,"are a part of their world. Ever heard of demigods?"

"Sort of. I mean they were the gods' kids with humans, right?" I said, remembering it from that history class.

"Exactly. That's what everyone here is. The gods are very much real, and you're related to one."

"Holy s***! Are you serious? How do you know this? How do you know they're real? How do you know I'm related to one?" I said, incredulous. I mean, me? Related to a god? No way!

"I know because I've seen them. And I know you're a demigod, because you wouldn't be here if you weren't. We gave you nectar and a little ambrosia. If you were a regular teenager, you would be dead. Your blood would have turned to fire, and your bones to sand."

"Ugh!" I said, totally grossed.

"I know. When Annabeth first told me, I almost puked." Piper said.

"Wait, if you're a demigod? Like, who's your parent?"

"Aphrodite."

"Goddess of love, right?" I said, Piper just nodded. "Then who's _my_ parent?" I asked.

"We don't know. Your parent has to claim you when you're thirteen, but you're like seventeen, eighteen?"

"Eighteen. What do you mean claimed? Like, do they just pop up and say, 'MINE!'"

Piper laughed. "No. They usually send a sign."

"What kind of sign?"

"It usually depends on who you parent is. I'm betting you'll be claimed at the campfire tonight. Here, let me show you around."

So we went, and toured this 'Camp Half-Blood' place. It was WAY cool. They even had a sword arena with REAL SWORDS! She showed me around the cabins, how each cabin represented a different god or goddess, she showed me the stables, the archery targets, the basketball hoop, skirted around the woods, this really cool cave (she said it was where the oracle lived), and the canoe lake, and a bunch of other cool stuff. As we walked around, I got a couple of strange looks. I guess it was because I was new and all, or maybe because I was hanging with Piper, who seemed to be pretty popular. Piper was dressed in combat boots, ripped jeans and a t-shirt and she made it look like it belonged in _Vogue._ After we finished the tour, I asked Piper if I could use my phone.

She just shook her head and said, "No. demigods should try to stay away from modern technology. When you use your phone, you're basically telling every monster in a fifty mile radius 'Hi, free lunch!'"

"Oh, so monsters are real too."

"Yeah. The one that attacked our van was a hellhound."

"So how do regular people not notice all this?" I said, gesturing all around me.

"It's this thing called the Mist. It's like a veil between the mortal and the godly. How it works is, it bends the truth. Remember that solar flare in Manhattan last summer?"

"Yeah, I was out of the city then, but Em told me it was pretty bad." I said.

"Well, it wasn't a solar flare. It was the Second Titan War. Kronos led an attack on Olympus."

"Kronos? Olympus? Isn't that a mountain somewhere? What's a mountain doing in Manhattan?"

"Well, there's a lot to explain. You know the gods? Well there was a time they didn't exist yet and the world was ruled by the Titans."

"Oh! Like _Clash of the Titans_? I loved that movie!" I said, excitedly. I thought Sam Worthington was pretty hot.

"Well, no. So these Titans, they were like the outdated version of the gods. Their king was Kronos, Lord of Time. Anyway, so Kronos married another Titan, Rhea and they had 6 children, which were the gods. However, Kronos had hear a prophecy that his children would kill him, so what he did to remedy the situation was swallow them."

"Ugh! What the hell? Were the Titans cannibals or something?" I said, completely grossed. I mean, who eats their own kids?

"Not all of them, I think. Anyway, Rhea was pregnant again and she didn't want Kronos to eat that child, so when he was born she hid him in a cave and found a rock and put it in swaddling cloths and presented it to Kronos."

"And he believed it? What an idiot!" I said. How do you confuse a baby with a rock?

"Yeah, he was. So, Kronos ate the rock and he believed it was his kid. But Gaea, the earth goddess took care of the baby, and his name was Zeus."

"King of the gods, right?"

"Yep. Anyway, so she raised him in that same cave in wherever it was until he could save his siblings, who weren't dead because gods are immortal. So, Zeus freed his siblings, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter and Hestia and they waged war on the Titans and won. Zeus cut up his father into little pieces and threw them into Tartarus, which is like the bottomless pit of evil. Anyway, last summer, Kronos tried to rise again and attacked Olympus, which is over the Empire State Building, but the demigods of Camp Half-Blood were able to stop him." Piper finished.

"Wow. Were you there? When Kronos attacked the Empire State Building?" I asked, curious.

"No. I didn't know I was a demigod then. But, Percy was there. You should ask him." PIper said, looking into the distance. Suddenly, she turned around and said, "I have to go, but Annabeth will answer your questions." Piper said, before running off. _Okay…_ I thought, I turned around and saw Annabeth heading towards me.

"Hi. So did Piper give you the basic overview?" she asked with a smile.

"Uh, yeah." I said, letting it seep in.

"Cool. Come on." Annabeth said, walking off. It turned out Annabeth and I just walked around as she answered my questions. She was pretty cool. I could tell we would be great friends. Anyway after a while, we heard this weird horn and Annabeth said it was dinner time. We went to the pavilion I had seen earlier. Annabeth led me to the Big House table because I wasn't claimed yet. Then some weird elvish type girls came out with platters of food. There was a goblet on the table, but it was empty. Annabeth whispered,"You can have anything you want, as long as it's non-alcoholic."

I immediately thought of a sprite, lemonade mix. Sure enough, it was there in the goblet. "Awesome." I immediately took a giant swig.

"I've gotta head to my table, but I'll see you at the campfire.." Annabeth said, before walking away.

Then, Chiron (he's this weird centaur-type dude) raised his goblet and said, "To the gods!" I raised my goblet and did the same thing. After he said this, all of the campers started getting up and putting part of their meal into the fire. It seemed like it was some sort of sacrifice. Anyway, I just followed the crowd and dropped in the best piece of brisket *sob* and thought, _Hey, there Mom. Uh, well Show me a sign tonight, please?_ I didn't know if the gods were actually paying attention, but I gave it a shot. After I sat down again, I struck up small conversation with Chiron. He was pretty interesting, actually. He knew a lot of stuff. After dinner, we went to the amphitheater for the all-important claiming.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous. I mean, that would be when I would find out who I was. Anyway, the campfire was pretty great. I mean, there were these really cheesy camp songs, but it was fun anyway. The fire at the center was pretty hot, too. I mean, Piper had told me that the better the campers' mood, the hotter the fire. I was hoping for a sign, whatever it looked like, but it didn't come. Naturally I was pretty disappointed. I was walking sullenly to the big House, when suddenly, there was this mist all around me and two torches above my head. I yelped, and Piper, who was walking right next to me yelped as well.

"Hecate." was all she said. Then, everyone around me started bowing, even Chiron.

As he knelt, he gave me this weird look, "Hecate, goddess of Magic, Crossroads, Witchcraft and The Mist. The Dark Lady. Hail Samantha Gordon," I cringed at his use of my full name, "daughter of Magic."


	3. Chapter Three: Arwen Matthews

I'm Arwen Matthews. No, not like Arwen from _Lord of the Rings._ I really wish my mom wasn't such a fangirl sometimes. Like, why would you name your kid after a book character? And useless one who doesn't really do anything except for be pretty. If I could have been named after any LOTR character, it would be Eowyn, because she is badass. But at least it's basically useless Arwen rather than _Prudence._ That's right, originally my mom wanted to name me _Prudence._ I love my mom, I really do, but she has no talent with names _at all._ First cat, Count Flufferton (he committed suicide a week after we got him. I think it was the name), the second cat was Purrscilla (Surprisingly, she's still with us), and the dog is Otto van Longdog (Purrscilla always beats him up at around 5). But, enough about my mother's inability to name things, and my household pets, let's get to the REAL stuff.

First, you might be wondering I might look like, well let me oblige you. I have dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. I go to this boarding school in Armpit, Nevada called the Wilderness School. There are so many things wrong with that. First, who names a town Armpit? It's like a pioneer dude planted a flag and thought, _You know what a good name would be for this place? Armpit. Fits exactly._ So basically, I live in the middle of nowhere. So what is this Wilderness School? It's a school for troubled kids. In the middle of the desert. You might ask, why was I sent to this place? Well, it might have to do with the fact that I stole a car and used it to drive to a house I broke into and stole some money. Yep, you're listening(reading?...) to/about a thief and a burglar. Except for, I'm no Bilbo Baggins, so I got caught (technically he did get caught, but you catch my drift?). Sue me. Which was exactly what they did. Now I'm here in the middle of the desert with a hundred other juvenile delinquents.

Back to the story, so it was my first day, and I was not excited. Who would be? _Oh, it's my first day at a school in a desert filled with criminals! Yay!_ No. There was general confusion as people tried to find lockers, friends, etc. I was tossed into the fray, holding my suitcase. I was jostled, and someone shouted right into my ear. Eventually, I found my way into the office and was greeted by a grumpy secretary. She just looked at me and said, "You new?" she asked. _No…_

"Yeah. I'm looking for my schedule and my dorm and locker assignment." I said, annoyed.

"Name?"

"Arwen Matthews." I said. The grumpy secretary lady arched an eyebrow.

"Well then, Ms. Matthews. Here you go." she said dumping a pile of papers on the desk.

I looked at my schedule. It sucked. I had Chemistry first thing in the morning! Ugh. After searching for what seemed like hours, I found my dorm. I started putting away some stuff, when there was a commotion down the hall. _Please don't let that be my roommate…_ I thought. Naturally, it was my roommate.

"Give it back!" a girl yelled. Obviously, the person didn't give it back. The commotion moved close to my door.

"Chill, Beauty Queen. Here's your photo back," the guy said.

"Never look through my stuff again or I'll gut you like a fish. And don't call me Beauty Queen." the girl threatened.

"Okay…" The guy said nervously.

The girl then entered the room, and she was really pretty. Like, really REALLY pretty. She had choppy brown hair and weird color changing eyes. One minute they were blue, then green, then brown and back to blue. Her skin was really tanned, so she had to be Native American or something.

"Hi. Are you my new roommate?" she said expressionless.

"Yeah. I'm Arwen Matthews." I said, holding out a hand.

She quirked her head. "Arwen...Like that one chick from the Lord of the Rings?" She asked.

"The very same. My mom isn't great with names." I said, rolling my eyes.

"That's okay, I'm Piper." she said, smiling slightly.

"Like the airplane?" I asked.

"The very same. My Grandpa Tom was really into the Native American traditional stuff. I'm half Cherokee, by the way. So Piper Cherokee was my nickname all through third grade." she said.

"That sucks. The curse of being named after an object and/or a book character." I said.

Piper laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it. So why did you get shipped to this place?"

"Breaking and entering, stealing a car, theft." I said with a shrug. "You?"

"Stealing. Well, not really _stealing._ More like I convinced a bunch of people to give me stuff." she said.

"And they went along with it? Wow. People are dumber than I thought." I said.

"So, what's your story?" she asked.

"Not much of a story I'm afraid. But it all began when Count Flufferton committed suicide…" And I told her everything. Over time, me and Piper were great friends with Leo, who had the dorm room across the hall. I still remember when we played a prank on Coach Hedge that ended up setting his pants on fire, and when we dyed Isabel's hair green for Halloween. She totally deserved it. We were like three peas in a pod, totally inseparable. Until that class trip to the Grand Canyon. Piper and Leo just disappeared. Strangely, so did Coach Hedge. I can't clearly remember what happened, but there was a really bad storm and they were just gone.

Strangely enough, I ran into Piper a couple of years later in New York. I was just walking on the street heading for work, when I saw her hand in hand with some blond guy. She saw me and broke out into a grin and waved.

"Arwen?" she asked. I just nodded and smiled.

"It's been too long! How have you been all these years?" she asked. I noticed she was a lot different, more confident and self assured. And she didn't hide behind baggy clothes and ripped jeans anymore.

"I've been good. Just heading over to work. How have you been?" I asked.

"Great. We should catch up later sometime." she said. "Oh, by the way, this is Jason, my fianceé. Jason, Arwen was one of my best friends at the Wilderness School." I smiled and shook Jason's hand.

"I had better be invited to the wedding." I warned.

"Naturally. It was really nice seeing you." she said,and then she hugged me goodbye and walked away.

We caught up later in a coffee shop, and it was really nice. She explained what happened what happened at the Grand Canyon, I told her how I finally got out of the Wilderness School and how I eventually moved to NY. It was great. True to her word, an invitation for Piper and Jason's wedding came through the mail a couple of weeks later. On the bottom, there was a handwritten note, _Will you be a bridesmaid? Please say yes._ Naturally, I accepted. Eventually, I met some of the other bridesmaids. Annabeth, who was the maid of honor, Reyna, Hazel, Rachel, and Thalia. I got paired up with a guy called Bobby, who was really nice. Now that I think back on it, Piper must have set us up, because we started dating not long after that.

You all know what happens, obviously. We got married, have three kids, who do _not_ have crazy names. Alyssa, Jamie, and Michael are all in elementary school, and they've been a great blessing. Jason turned out to be a pilot, Piper became an environmentalist, Annabeth married the best man, Percy Jackson, and became a famous architect. Percy was an Olympic swimmer, now he's a marine biologist. Reyna moved permanently to San Francisco, Hazel married Frank Zhang and became an archeologist, while Frank became a general. Rachel became a famous artist and owned an art gallery in SoHo, and Thalia disappeared off the map a couple of years ago.

Turns out the Wilderness School helped out after all, just not in the way it was supposed to.


	4. Chapter Four: George Manley

Hi, George Manley here. I am 29 years old and I live in San Francisco, California. I am divorced and I have a daughter, Lucille, who is the sunshine of my life. She's only six, and is starting first grade at the nearby elementary school today.

To be honest, I was nervous. How could I not be? My little girl was off to her first day of school. She was just in the back seat in her backpack that was way too big and she was kicking her feet and playing with her favorite doll.

"Are you ready?" I asked her.

"Yeah, Daddy." she said in her innocent little voice. I helped her out of her car seat and held her hand as we walked to the doors. The classroom was a six year old's paradise. It was very organized and very colorful and had large windows. You could see the small playground outside. Inside, there were toys everywhere and little tables with little chairs and little cubby holes for all the little kids' things.

Some other children were already there, exploring all the nooks and crannies there were. Lucille held my hand tighter. I knew she was very shy and nervous, so I knelt down to her level and said, "You're gonna be fine, okay, Sweetie?" Lucille nodded.

"Look! It's Sammy!" Lucille said excitedly, her eyes lighting up. Sammy? None of my friends had kids named Sammy. She was looking at a little boy who was very cute. He had curly dark hair and golden eyes and light golden-brown skin. He was with a woman that was obviously his mother.

The lady that was holding the little boy's hand was quite possibly the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had long, curly brown hair and golden eyes and rich dark skin and a beautiful smile. Wow. After a few moments, I realized I was staring. I quickly cleared my throat and looked for Lucille. She had run off to hang out with the Sammy kid. When I looked up, I saw Sammy's mother walk up to me.

"Hello," she said, smiling "Are you Lucille's father?"

"Er, yes. I am." I said, nervously.

"I just have to say, your daughter is so adorable and sweet. You did a great job." she said, smiling kindly

"Thank you. But, uh how do you know…?"

"Oh! Silly me! We met a week ago at the park. She was with her mother, I guess. Sammy accidentally ran into her...You get the point. Anyway, she basically spilled her life story to Sammy and she absolutely adores you. By the way, sorry about your wife." the woman said hurriedly.

"Sorry. It must creep you out that I know your whole life story. I'm Hazel. Hazel Zhang." the woman- Hazel said.

"George. George Manley." I said reaching out my hand. She shook it.

"Manley? Really?" Hazel said, laughing slightly.

"Yeah. It sucks." I said, smiling.

"Well, Mr. Manley. It was very nice meeting you. I regret that I must be going." Hazel said.

"Bye." I said, waving. She smiled and waved before leaving the room. As she waved, I caught a flash of gold on her ring finger. _Huh..._

"Do you like her?" Lucille said right next to me. I jumped. "She's very pretty. And nice."

"Lucille...It's not like that.." I said.

'Okay. Bye, Daddy." She said, giving me a hug.

"Bye, Sweetie." I said, reluctant to let her go, but she went and talked to her new best friend, Sammy. I sighed and walked out of the building. I got into the car and drove off to work. In case you want to know, I'm a software engineer. My life was all about computers and stuff. Very exciting. I liked my job, I really did, but I had always hoped for something more...I dunno, just more. But, enough about my job woes, let's get back to the story.

After I was done with work for the day, I drove over to the school to pick up Lucille. When I pulled over into the school parking lot, I saw her on the playground chatting with Sammy. When she saw me, her eyes lit up.

"Daddy!" She yelled and ran at me. I picked her up.

"So, how was your first day, Sweetie?" I asked her, smiling.

"It was awesome! I met Casey, and Andy, and…" she began rattling off a list of names. I just smiled.

"Guess what?" Lucille said.

"What?" I asked

"Sammy's dad is a superhero!" she said enthusiastically.

"Really?" I said, pretty disappointed. I hadn't really considered the possibility of Hazel being married. Then, I remembered the flash of gold on her ring finger.

"Yeah. He fights bad guys and saves lives and he even has a special uniform!" Lucille continued.

"Wow." I couldn't compete with that. I was only a tech guy.

"I know! And he has a secret camp!" she finished.

"Interesting!" I said, a bit surprised at that one. The dude sounded like a policeman, but the secret camp threw me off.

"Daddy, can I have some ice cream?" Lucille asked with puppy dog eyes. I tried hard to resist. I really did, but…

"Sure."

"Yay!" she said, jumping out of my arms and running to the car.

"Don't you just love children?" a voice asked right next to me. I turned my head and saw it was Hazel.

"Yeah." I said, looking at Lucille dancing around the car. Hazel just sighed.

"I just wish…" Hazel trailed off

"What?" I asked, concerned.

"It's nothing. Nothing." she said, decidedly. I knew it wasn't nothing, but I let it go. I didn't want to pry, because she obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Over the next few months, Lucille and Sammy became inseparable. That meant a lot of play dates, meetings at the park...You get the idea. Hazel and I became good friends, One weird thing was, she never mentioned Sammy's father. Ever. I figured he left her and broke her heart. Hazel was a good woman, and she didn't deserve to be treated that way. I couldn't help but fall for her. She was kind, beautiful, smart, and there was something special about her. She had this aura about her. And her eyes, her beautiful golden eyes.

One day, in the middle of the school year, while I was picking Lucille up, I saw Hazel _crying_ , her head on her arms, which were on the steering wheel. I knocked on her driver's side window. She looked up and saw me and tried for a smile. She let down her window.

"Hi." she said, her voice watery.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

She wiped away her tears. "Yeah. I'm fine." She smiled again and rolled up her window. That was a little harsh, but I just waved and walked away. Lucille was in a bad mood that night, so I was a little preoccupied. Hazel crying would have to wait. The next day, Hazel was her normal self, smiling and laughing, as if nothing had happened yesterday.

I worried about Hazel. She seemed so down, but she wouldn't tell me. It was pretty frustrating. I wanted her to tell me what was wrong so I could hold her in my arms… Sorry got carried away.

Anyway, a few weeks later I was a bit early in picking up Lucille when I saw a strange man I had never seen before. He was definitely army. I could tell because of his posture. He was tall, at least 6'3 and had a black buzz cut. Also, the army uniform gave a lot away. From my angle, I couldn't get a good view of his face, but as I got closer, I saw he was definitely Asian and pretty good-looking (not that I'm gay).

"Hello." I said to the stranger. "Waiting on someone?" I asked.

"Yes. My family." he said in a deep voice.

"Nice." I said.

Then, the doors opened and a flood of children came out. I was curious to see who he was here for. As I searched the crowd for Lucille, I saw Hazel walking in from the parking lot. She seemed to be busy with her phone, but I called out anyways. The army guy looked in her direction and froze. Hazel looked up and smiled, but then her expression turned to one of shock. She mumbled something, but I couldn't hear because I was too far away. Then, she broke out in a huge smile and started running towards the stranger. He caught her in his arms and twirled her around. I could have sworn some of the fifth grade girls went, "Awww…"

"Frank! Thank the gods!" I heard Hazel say.

I just stood there awkwardly, my heart splintering into a million pieces. I cleared my throat, and Hazle pulled away from the stranger, Frank.

"I hate to interrupt your reunion, but, who's this?" I asked.

"Oh! George, this is my husband Frank. Frank, this is my friend George. He's little Lucille's father." Hazel said, beaming.

"Ah! So this is who's been taking care of my Hazel when I was gone. For that, I am eternally grateful." Frank said, with a smile.

"Uh, thank you." I said.

"DAD!" Sammy yelled. Frank picked up his son and tossed him in the air.

"And how has my young centurion been faring?" Frank asked. Centurion? Weren't centurions Roman or something?

I turned away from the happy family's reunion to look for Lucille and then I saw her talking to one of her friends, Casey, I think. "Hey,sweetie, It's time to go home."

"Okay, Daddy. Bye, Casey!" Lucille said.

"Bye!" the blonde first grader replied.

"Who's that man with Sammy and Ms. Zhang?" Lucille asked.

"A superhero." I replied.


End file.
